nihil album

The story

1. Latin · derived fromnix“snow, snow-white thing”
2. German · derived fromnichts“nothing”
3. Medieval Latin · borrowed fromnihil album“white nothing”
4. English todaynihil album

From Medieval Latin nihil album (“white nothing”), from late medieval confusion of German nichts (“nothing”) and nix with Latin nix (“snow, snow-white thing”), used for white forms of zinc oxide. Doublet of nill.

Words from the same roots